Der Mythos Von der Weisheit Agyptens In der Franzosischen Literatur der Moderne

The question of European founding myths in the era of globalization is particularly important. Creating a European network, one must reflect on the European dimensions of the different national cultures and their identity-creating potential for the continent. One European founding myth of Europe is the wisdom of Egypt. Since the Enlightenment it had been promoted extensively in confrontation to the two other founding pillars of the continent, Hebraism and Hellenism. In the French literature of the so-called classic modern period thanks to Napoleon's expedition to Egypt and the deciphering of the hieroglyphs the myth of the wisdom of Egypt plays a significant role. The many mythical memories of Egypt show, that the most popular authors of modernity, including Nerval, Baudelaire, Gautier, Mallarmé, designate them as fictitious projections, but nevertheless do not give up their claim of producing meaning and legitimacy.